How to Manage Landlords like a Pro with Kodisher – Part 1

In Kenya, a majority of people prefer building rental properties as a way of investing their money. Indeed, as statistics indicate, almost a third of the country’s wealthy individuals have allocated a share of their wealth in the country’s real estate sector as opposed to other sources of wealth such as agribusiness, equities or government bonds. Although many of them would testify that becoming a landlord has been more rewarding financially, the truth is managing property is no easy task. This article will give you a a general overview of how you can use Kodisher to manage your reporting and payments to landlords.

As a property manager, your responsibility is to provide the solution by handling daily operations of real estate investments ranging from a handful housing units to large apartment buildings owned by various landlords – a task which involves several obligations such as managing properties, rent collection, and reviewing financial information.

This article focuses on 3 important components of property management available on Kodisher which will help you manage for your landlords more efficiently.

Property

As a property manager, managing landlords means that you are responsible for handling their rental properties. In Kenya, different landlords have different properties with each possessing unique features. Some of the types of rental properties available for management in Kenya include residential apartments, villas, cottages, and studios. Thus, as a property manager, you can oversee a single unit or numerous properties depending on the number of landlords you manage.

Adding properties using Kodisher:

To manage properties belonging to your landlords, you must assign the specific property to your landlord. To do this, Login to Kodisher and follow the steps below:

Go to ‘Manage’ (On the left menu)

On the drop-down select ‘Properties’

Click on the ‘Add new’ button on the right upper corner of the new

Provide the required details such as property name, location, landlord name, number of houses/units, and commission rate (The value you charge your landlord)

Save property

Note: Every new unit is labeled vacant and can be added to a lease.

Tenants

For every property you manage, there are tenants who reside in each of them. Therefore, you are also responsible for managing tenants in all the units available. In most cases, your role as a property manager may involve handling of lease agreements, rent collection on behalf of the landlord, and managing maintenance and repairs.

Adding tenants using Kodisher:

Kodisher enables you to manage tenants for your landlord(s), all in one place. Using the system, you can assign tenants to a specific landlord and property in two ways: manually and batch processing.

Manual Process

Go to ‘Manage’

On the dropdown select ‘Tenants’

Click on the ‘Add New’ button on the right upper corner of the list.Note: Once you have added a tenant, you can assign them a house. The house you have assigned them will now appear as occupied and have an account statement

To do this, go to ‘Manage’ > ‘Tenants’ then scroll to the tenant you want and click on the ‘Assign’ button on the right-hand side.\

Batch operation

This method is simpler and more efficient for managing multiple tenants. It allows you to import information about your landlords’ tenants that includes the properties resided, units occupied, and lease data in the click of a button.

Update the sample file with details of the houses and tenants leasing them

Upload the file on the same page.
(You will be able to review the information on that page before it is entered into Kodisher)

Click Confirm.

This will create the houses, the tenants and initiate leases on the system. You can then customize any of the details as necessary. From there you can start managing the rental properties, recording payments, and generate reports.

Note: By default, the system assigns the tenant importer as the property owner rather than the property manager. Therefore, you must change the property owners after the import. To do that go to Manage->Properties-> [Select property] ->Edit-> [choose the correct landlord]

Payments

Managing your landlords means that you are also responsible for their finances. When it comes to rental properties, it is very important for you to have a very reliable accounting system which will accord all payments to your respective landlords. Managing your finances will play a crucial role in preventing problems that would hamper the relationship with your landlords.

The most effective method of managing income generated from your landlords’ properties is by using software capable of tracking your finances especially if you manage more than one property. Spreadsheets such as Excel provide and a good platform for calculating expenses and gross income. However, using such tools becomes ineffective to manage several properties owing to the number of tenants.

One of the benefits of using Kodisher is that the software is designed to allow efficient management of your landlords’ rental transactions. Subsequently, it makes it easy to track all payments and deductibles from tenants with zero errors. Also, the system creates automated payments that are credited to your landlords’ accounts. This ensures that your landlords never miss returns from their investments. Payments are tracked using vouchers, journal entries and account statements.

Vouchers

Payment vouchers facilitate the approval of cash transactions involving your landlords and servicemen. As for the former, payment vouchers help to track their monthly remittances. The process workflow for conducting payments require you to generate a voucher for approval before proceeding to pay your landlord using your landlord’s desired payment method.

To generate a voucher follow these steps:

Go to ‘Landlord Accounts’ (On the left menu)

On the dropdown select ‘Payment Vouchers’

Click on the ‘Add Voucher’ button on the right upper corner of the list.

Click on the ‘Landlord Voucher’ button of the new window. A new window consisting of all your landlords appears.

Select the landlord you wish to pay and click on the ‘Generate Voucher’ button on the details column of you listed landlords.

Next, click on ‘Generate’ button on the bottom of your new page to create a voucher for approval.

Note: Once a voucher is created, a notification will be sent for approval. Unapproved vouchers can be found at the ‘pending payment vouchers section.’ To approve the voucher, click on the bell icon located on the top right of your screen and select ‘pending voucher approval’. You will be directed to a page showing the pending vouchers requiring approval.

Next, click on the name of your landlord and click on the ‘Approve voucher’ button.

Confirm by adding an approval note and selecting the Approve and Send’ button.

Now you can proceed to make payment by clicking on the ‘Make Payment’ button. Select the payment method and enter the transaction ID and a brief comment if necessary. (Payment methods include cash, M-Pesa, cheque, and bank transfer).

Click on the ‘Pay’ button to complete payment

Journal Entries

A journal entry is a log or record that consists of all monthly transactions relating to your landlord’s property. It includes a total of the credits (rent payments) and debits (commission and bills) performed during the month. Journal entries facilitate the recording of account balances on your landlord’s monthly general ledger.

To add a journal entry, follow the steps below:

Go to ‘Landlord Accounts’ (On the left menu)

On the dropdown select ‘Payment Journals’

Navigate to the journal column (right end) of your landlord details and click on the ‘Make Journal Entry’ button

Proceed to click on the ‘Add Entry’ button below for approval.

Note: Unapproved journal entries can be found on the ‘pending journal approvals’ section. To approve the voucher, click on the bell icon located on the top right of your screen and select ‘pending journal entry approval.’ You will be directed to a page showing the pending journal entries requiring approval.

Income Statements

Your landlords’ income statements are integral in reviewing the financial performance of their properties over a specific accounting period (usually 12 months). Moreover, it enhances your accountability as a property manager – a factor that fuels healthy relationships with your landlords.

To generate an accounting statement:

Go to ‘Landlord Accounts’ (On the left menu)

On the dropdown select ‘Payment Journals’

Navigate to the journal column (right end) of your chosen landlord and click on the ‘Journal’ button

Click on ‘PDF’ button on download an income statement on your device.

Also, you can generate an income statement for your landlord and send via email. To do this, just click on the ‘Send’ button and confirm by clicking on the ‘send statement’ button.

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About Us

Kodisher is a Kenyan property management system that helps property owners and letting agents to bring out the full potential of their rental properties. Kodisher is available now, online and is easy to use, affordable and is integrated with mobile money payment methods.